Things you said I wish you hadnt
by APHCupcake
Summary: Just a port over from my AO3 froma prompt I received on tumblr: 17: Things you said I wish you hadn't. I ended up writing my OC with Deidara due to it being nearly a decade since I had written any Naruto stuff
1. Chapter 1

_"We're villains, we don't have time for romance, hm."_

 _"For fucks sake can't we for once act like normal people with emotions? I'm sorry this happened but I can't help who I end up liking."_

 _"You're an idiot for even having them in the first place."  
_

 _"Do you even like me as a partner?!"  
_

 _"I don't know, I haven't decided yet, hm!"  
_

The mission had gone completely awry; neither of them had spoken since they had taken up shelter in an underground bunker. A single bed with two cabinets against two of the walls; one cabinet had food pill rations while the other was stocked with still usable medical supplies, a single chair and half of what seemed to be a bathroom.

It was simple mission to start with; infiltrate the waterfall village, take out two of the council members and get out without being caught. It should have been easy; it would have had they not had a fight.

Deidara had himself sitting on the bed; cloak removed as he bandaged himself up from their failure. He had gotten lucky, just a few kunai cuts and stab wounds. His partner wasnt too lucky. She'd gotten too close to his bombs, one of them launching wooden shrapnel into her left leg and shoulder. Sure, her ice style stopped the bleeding but she could barely defend herself with only two working limbs. Now she had taken up the chair and kept to the far end of the room, her back facing the other.

"Are you going to just sit there and give me the silent treatment or are you going to let me see your injuries, hm?" Deidara's voice called out; getting silence in return. He should of known, the way she ignored him when he called out for her to get back should had been a sign. "Stop acting like a child and let me see your leg and shoulder Miko."

Miko, said woman across from him said nothing, only pulled her bloody and tattered cloak tighter around her body. It was obvious that she was being childish, but the simple fact that Deidara wouldn't hear her out hurt more than the physical wounds she had. Her hands shook as she reached up to pull her long black hair into a high ponytail; the wood in her left shoulder making hard to do so but she wasn't going to ask for help.

Once her hair was pulled out of the way, she slid the cloak off her shoulders; the fabric catching on the wood sticking out. " _Shit-_ " Miko hissed to herself, she could feel the fresh blood starting to dampen her compression crop top, she had to pull it out or it'd just keep bleeding if she couldn't freeze the wound over. She tucked a portion of her cloak into her mouth, biting down as she squeezed her ice blue eyes shut; the fingers from her right had firmly grasped the shrapnel piece before roughly yanking it out. Miko wanted to scream out but didn't, she only bit down onto the cloak harder and let go once the pain subsided; her breath coming out as strained pants.

"It wouldn't be so hard if you just let me help, hm." Deidara said snidely, not phased at seeing the other rip the wood out. He saw her shoulders tense for a moment before she discarded the wood and took a long shuddering breath; her left shoulder quickly freezing over.

"Turn away." Miko's voice was short; venom mixed with anger lacing her tone, "Turn away, _now_."

Deidara narrowed his visible eye at her, "Finally speaking to me now, huh? And why should I? You've done nothing but do exactly the opposite of what I said, hm."

"I'm about to get the wood out of my leg, I have to remove my pants for it. Unfortunately it can't wait right now because _someone_ got a little trigger happy and now I have a hunk of wood in my leg!" Her voice began to rise, trying her best to keep calm in their current situation.

"If you would let me help you, it'd be over even faster then we can get out of here!" Deidara snapped, jumping up to his feet to stomp over to Miko, "This wouldn't have happened if-"

"If Sasori was still here, I know! He was so much better as a partner than I am. For fucks sake you don't have to remind me." Miko cut him off, reaching for the waistband of her pants to start tugging them down, "He was such a perfect partner for you, with the whole artist thing and you had jutsus that worked so well!"

"Just listen to me! If you would of listened when I said go right, we wouldn't be in this mess!" Deidara grabbed her good shoulder to turn her to face him; unprepared for the angry look in her eyes accompanied with tears.

Miko slapped away his hand before shoving him away, "You can go to hell Deidara! I can take care of myself."

"Like hell you can!" He grabbed her once more, lifting and then pulling her over to the bed so he could treat it, "You're no use to the Akatsuki if you can't even walk."

He was right, but Miko wasn't going to admit it. She had her own pride and broken heart to deal with. She tried to fight him off, not wanting any of his very much needed help. She sat up and kept trying to push him away before he swung his leg over her waist, using both his hands to pin her down and using his own weight to prevent her from rolling over. She glared up at him, not saying a word, Miko wasn't about to bend to his demands.

"Just let me wrap your stupid leg and then you can go back to your corner and pout, hm." Deidara wasn't about to let up, he knew they'd both be in trouble if left incapacitated for too long.

Miko gave a faint grunt before giving a nod; signalling for him to do what he needed. Deidara worked in silence as he pulled the shrapnel out of her thigh, grabbing bandages, disinfectant, and healing salve to properly patch her leg until they could get to Kakuzu to sew it up. It wasn't too deep but some of the muscle needed time to heal for sure. He knew his words from their fight were harsh, but he knew falling in love with a fellow member would complicate things, it was selfish but neither of them needed a heavy heart if the other were to suddenly die.

"Why did you say it."

"What?"

"Why did you call me an idiot for having feelings for you." Miko was suddenly calm, looking off to the side, "We are only human, things like this happen all the time."

"We shouldn't entertain these kinds of feelings. We are all S-rank criminals; we lost the right to even have those niceties long ago. All we can do is listen to our leader, take down those who oppose us then in turn live another day." Deidara had taken the chair and was now sitting in it, working on some possible explosive designs. "I push mine down or it'll become a distraction, hm."

Miko frowned, rolling onto her right side to face away from him, "I see then. Sorry for being a _distraction_ then. Once we talk to Leader, I'll request to be paired up with someone else, maybe Uchiha will be a better fit to work with."

Deidara felt a surge of anger immediately bubble in his stomach, gritting his teeth. Just the mention of Itachi's name made him somewhat irrationally angry; would she really pick him as a replacement over him? No, no she wouldn't; when in proper sync; they were a hard duo to take down with her ice being able to incapacitate people so he could freely blow up people.

She knew it was a dirty trick to play, but it was only partially a trick as she realized her feelings were going to stay unrequited; she needed to not have him as a teammate anymore. If it meant aligning herself with his self-proclaimed rival; then so be it, she was not about to let him make her feel miserable. "His fire and my ice will be complementary to each other. We're both more adept to stealth too. Plus, last time I checked, you and Kisame get along fairly well."

"Like hell you are, I'm not giving anything or anyone up to that bastard." Deidara seethed, his posture now tense as he turned to face Miko, "Why the hell would you pick him over any of the others? All of his talent and power relies in his stupid Sharingan, besides that he's a one trick pony, hm."

"Hidan and I don't work well together, Kakuzu makes me uncomfortable to hell and back, I would work with Kisame _if_ our jutsus weren't so similar, I highly doubt I would be paired up with either of our leaders and I am not going to be dealing with Tobi or Zetsu." None of what she said were lies, she respected the other members just as much as the next person. She'd only been on two missions before with Itachi before being officially assigned to working with Deidara; she and Itachi had worked nearly flawlessly together. Her and Deidara got off to a rocky start but soon figured out how to make their abilities work together to their advantage.

"Its obvious that you don't feel the same way as I do, it's for the best until I can get over them and properly bury them like I do everything else." Miko didn't turn to face him, she kept her back to him as she used her cloak to as a makeshift blanket, "I'm going to sleep, do whatever you want."

Deidara let out an irritated grunt, not saying anything else. He wasn't going to tell her that he enjoyed being around her, not after what she said. Her confession caught him off guard but deep down he knew he felt the same, they were a powerful duo. Her ice over his bombs made it hard for sensory types to locate them. She was strong willed and enjoyed a good battle as long as victory was guaranteed. There was one fight particular that made him realize he had fallen for her.

 _It was a minor mistake really, they'd had been wandering one of the country sides of Konoha, stopping at a small food shop to get something to eat before they were spotted by leaf shinobi. Both Akatsuki members tried to play it off, saying that it was from a lost bet but then one of the shinobi pulled out their Bingo book; they knew they had to take them out._

 _It had been more fun that he was expecting, he had a few scrapes and bruises while Miko was nearly unscathed except for parts of her hair being either singed off or cut at weird lengths and her cloak having a few tatters on it._

 _"I took a calculated risk, but boy, am I bad at math. They really gave me a run for my money with their fire styles." Miko nearly howled in laughter, a bright smile on her face as she wiped a tear from her eye. They had made their escape on one of Deidara's birds.  
_

 _She looked radiant under what was now twilight, her bright blue eyes sparkled as the orange light filled them, the light made her skin glow as if she was porcelain, "We should probably head northeast and find an inn for the night, I don't want another run in with the leaf any time soon. What do you say, Dei?" Miko looked at him, a grin on her face._

 _Deidara felt the pit of his stomach twist, quickly looking away from her, "Yeah, sounds good to me, hm." He didn't like how this was going one bit. He had to squash any feelings he had as soon as possible._


	2. Chapter 2

"I _see then. Sorry for being a distraction then. Once we talk to Leader, I'll request to be paired up with someone else, maybe Uchiha will be a better fit to work with."_

It had been three months. Three months since either of them had spoken to each other. Deidara was furious that she went through with the partner change, Miko only felt heartbreak as she and Kisame switched partners. She was right after all, without being around him there was no room for error and in turn, became closer to Itachi in a weird way. Miko didn't form romantic feelings for the other, but it was more of a familiar bond; she even got him to talk a little about himself once and what his home village was like, and in turn she told him about her own home village. She almost completely forgot about her feelings for Deidara until she was requested to pair back up with him for a mission.

Her stomach dropped, she didn't want to face him just yet; Miko didn't know if her feelings had subsided for him or not.

At the present moment Pein, Deidara and Miko were having a projection meeting; Miko being on the far side of the Iwagakure, Deidara being in Kirigakure, and Pein being in the base of operations in Amegakure.

" _I need you both to go to the Yukigakure; Miko will be in charge since she knows the village better than anyone would. You and Deidara will be undercover there to meet with an informant. You both will be under the guise of simple travelers; am I clear?_ "

" _Crystal clear sir, we'll do our best._ " She replied, keeping her eyes trained on their leader.

" _Good. You will both meet in three days time before disguising yourselves and taking the boat ride to the village. It should take roughly a week to complete. Deidara, have Kisame meet up with Itachi in the Kusagakure as the midway point for the four of you._ "

Deidara gave a nod, " _Alright, hm._ " And with that all three projections fazed out, ending their meeting.

Both Deidara and Miko were dreading their reuniting.

* * *

Deidara was kind enough to drop Kisame off as close as he could to his meetup spot with Itachi, immediately heading to where he needed to go to meet up with Miko. He had conflicting feelings about seeing her, he was still bitter about what she did but at the same time, he _did_ miss her. He wasn't going to admit it though, he had his pride. However, he couldn't deny the fact that he missed their work together; seeing her ice shattering in the light from his bombs was definitely something else.

It wasn't hard spotting Miko once he arrived in the village, she was waiting in the outskirts with a bag in hand, obvious uneasy about their meetup. She felt sick to her stomach about working with Deidara once more, but she was the only one who knew the ins and outs of the Hidden Snow; not many people went there to map it out so many maps were highly outdated. "Here, change into this. It'll be the warmer season where we'll be at but everything will still be frozen." Miko didn't bother with pleasantries, she tossed the bag towards him.

"Thanks for the warm welcome, hm." Deidara made a face at her tone, opening the bag to see winter clothes in his size, "Thanks, I suppose."

She gave a nod before shedding her Akatsuki cloak; which revealed a dark blue kimono style top that had red accents, a black belt, matching dark blue pants with closed toe shinobi shoes, "The shoes are at the bottom of the bag, you aren't used to freezing weather and I'm sure you'd rather not freeze your toes off." She pulled a scroll out from a pouch on her hip and rolled it open, using it to seal her cloak and headband into it before rolling it up and handing it over to Deidara, "We leave in an hour, I'll meet you at the docks after getting some food from a shop since it takes half a day by boat to get to the village from here."

Deidara watched her walk away, hurt shooting through his chest from their interaction, did she really get rid of her feelings for him in the last three months? Did she end up falling for Itachi? Goddammit if she did, he'd blow the Uchiha up in a heartbeat! He hadn't gotten over his feelings for her but he wasn't going to let him have her. He angrily changed into the snow clothes, it was heavier than what he was expecting. She at least knew what colors would suit him; a pale blue kyudo-gi for his top, navy blue hakama style pants that tucked into the knee high shinobi boots. He still had full access to his clay pouches and his movement wasn't limited whatsoever, maybe there was a bit of her that still liked him.

Whatever it was, he didn't have time to waste; he sealed his original clothes, headband and cloak into the scroll he had and took off his eye camera for now, tucking his gadget into his kyudo-gi. He rolled the scroll up and walked into town, mostly uninterested in the shops and people. Deidara's mind was now filled with 'what ifs'. It wasn't long before he found himself at the docks, Miko nowhere in sight, it had been almost an hour after their initial meeting. The boat would be leaving soon and from the looks of it, the boat only set out once a day.

Deidara scanned the crowd before spotting Miko; she was happily chatting with a small child with their mother, what in the world was she doing? She gave a small wave before the small child cried out, "Bye big sis! I'll miss you!" Miko turned to kiss the child on the head before hugging his mother tightly, turning heel to jog towards Deidara's direction.

"What was all that about? I didn't know you had a family here, hm."

"There are many things you don't know about my past when it comes to me. They are a family that I once knew, they took me in when I came to the mainland. The boat is about to leave, let's get going." The smile on her face immediately dropped, her eyes not landing anywhere on Deidara as she spoke to him. Miko knew she was being rude, but it was the only way to prevent herself from letting her emotions to rise up again, who knows, maybe she had moved on.

* * *

"Why did you leave your village?" Deidara started, looking over the boat's edge as it sailed, "Wasn't it supposed to become the Spring village after that one princess returned, hm?" The sky was grey, the sea equally as grey with large ice floes floating about; it was almost melancholy to watch the sea however there wasn't much anyone could do.

"It was, but short lived, a coup was staged and immediately took out any chance of it." Miko answered, not looking up from a small book, "Spring never made it to where I lived as a child, all I knew growing up was ice and snow. I had dreams of seeing flowers frozen but it doesn't happen on the mainland.

She closed her book, tucking it under her arm, Miko felt tense while speaking to Deidara; her hands felt sweaty despite no actual perspiration. "How are the clothes holding up? Are you warm?" There wasn't much to really talk about; granted she was avoiding the obvious at the moment

Deidara looked at her surprised, unsure what to say for a moment before turning his head towards her, "I'm fine, I'm surprised I don't feel the cold in these. What are they made from?"

"Special fabric made out of wool from snow sheep; they use a person's natural chakra as an insulator and keeps you as warm as possible as long as you don't run out of it." She explained, "I don't need them since I am used to the intense cold but many people on this boat will not be ready, it gets to below freezing by sundown." Miko hesitated before looking at him, "whatever you do, don't remove them unless we are inside of an inn or you'll immediately feel the effects of the cold." She regretted looking him in the eye, feeling her heart flutter and her stomach twist as their eyes met, "I...I'm going inside for a moment to get a warm drink."

He saw the look in her eyes, it was the same look she gave him before their fight, all he could do was watch her leave under the ship's deck. This was the most they'd spoken to each other for the majority of the trip; while it wasn't much, it felt better than being ignored or given the cold shoulder. Maybe it was time to swallow his pride and confess to her how he felt and apologize. The question was, when was a good time to do it?

* * *

An eternal winter wonderland could easily describe what the Yukigakure looked like, there was at least a foot of snow everywhere that wasn't a cleared road. It was dazzling if you weren't used to the snow; but to those who knew the village, it was an icy prison that many could not escape. The buildings were close together, almost as if they themselves were huddling together from the snow and cold. There were many shops and restaurants that both Miko and Deidara could see from their spots as they waited in line to get into the village.

It had been uncomfortable since the boat ride, Miko wasn't being as cold as she was initially but instead kept her answers short and to the point. While it was better, Deidara would rather have a proper conversation with her instead of getting single sentence replies. She spoke more to the village guards than him.

They had both altered their appearance slightly to not be as obvious of who they were. Deidara's changes were very minor; changing his eye color to brown, and gave himself sharper facial features. Miko had done a bit more; her hair was noticeably shorter and pale blue, her eyes hazel and made her face rounder. There was no point in doing full transformations if anything once they made it inside the village, they would more than likely drop the justus and proceed with their mission.

"What is your purpose of both your visits?" The snow shinobi questioned, eyeing both Deidara and Miko. They were stopped by village guards, though they weren't the only ones, it did bring on a twinge of suspicion when Miko first hesitated to speak.

"We are just here to visit some distant relatives of mine, it's been so long since I've been here. He's just my escort since I am not adept to fighting in the snow." Miko made her voice lighter, it'd been a few years since her defection so she was unsure if anyone would recognize her voice. "we are meeting them here in the main village since it's hard getting to where they are.

"Family name?"

"Shiyuko." The way she said the surname made it seem as if she had history with whoever had the name, and from Deidara's experience it wasn't positive.

"Alright, enjoy your visit then." And just like that they were let in. The streets were bustling with people, natives and visitors alike. It was strangely nostalgic to Miko but she didn't let it get to her as she lead them further into the village to an inn for their stay. The inn was very nice, bright reds and oranges decorated the walls with posters for shows that were being performed in the village.

"Welcome welcome! How can I help you today?" The receptionist warmly welcomed the two. Her eyes darted between them for a moment before settling on Miko.

Miko stepped forward, a fake welcoming smile on her face, "Can I get a room for my companion and I? We'll only be here for a week." She reached into her pocket for the funds they had for the mission, "How much will it be?"

The receptionist pulled out a booklet with what rooms were taken, "3,824 ryo for the full week." Both Deidara and Miko raised a brow at the cost, it was...relatively cheap for an Inn off a main road in a village.

"3,824? Sounds good to me." Miko didn't really think much of it, that amount was relatively low from what she could recall from previous times she's stayed in other inns; however she didn't think much of it as she received their key for their stay.

"Room 210 is where you will be staying." She smiled at them both, motioning towards the stairs that went up to the second level.

Miko bowed her head and said a think you before heading upstairs, "I don't understand why the room was so cheap?" she muttered to herself, "Is the economy actually better now here?"

"Who cares, just means Kakuzu won't complain about the money we're spending, hm." Deidara groused, looking outside the window as he waited for her to unlock the door. Once he heard the door open he tried to walk inside, only to walk into Miko, "Oi, what's wro-"

There was a reason why the room was cheaper than their normal ones, it had only one bed. Granted the bed could fit two people but, with how things went between the two just over three months ago, neither was keen on being that close to the other. Before their fight they would have laughed it off and made the best of it, right now wasn't that. The room itself was nice, it was a bit plain but the size made up for it with a very large futon bed in the middle of it. There was a door which presumably lead to a bathroom, another that led to a small closet and a large window that showed off the town view.

Miko passed the key to Deidara, "I'm going to request a extra bed then go into town to gather some intel or something. You can do whatever you need to." She moved to side to leave, however she felt Deidara's hand clamp down around her wrist and pull her into the room before closing the door. "What are y-"

"We need to talk, hm." He was serious, he stared down at her as his grip tightened.

"I don't have time for this Deidara, you made your choice three months ago. I made my choice too, there is no point for us to talk." She yanked her hand from his grip, grimacing at the slight smudge of saliva on her wrist, "Lets just do our job, get our information then we can leave this stupid village and never have to work together again." Miko moved towards the door before being stopped once more, Deidara grabbing onto her upper arm. "What are you doing?"

"Just hear me out dammit!" Deidara rubbed a hand over his face, "I..I was wrong with my words. I shouldn't have been so harsh with my words and I wanted to apologize and-"

Miko tried to pull her arm away from him again, "And what, suddenly say you like me after all after stomping over my feelings? Or is it the jealousy that you have towards Itachi that you suddenly have feelings towards me. Do us **_both_ **a favor and **don't** . I don't want to hear any of it. We are here for a job, I am not going to be _a distraction_ or _be distracted_." she turned to him, her eyes showing that she wasn't having any of it. There was no hesitation when she let her arm freeze over, the sudden cold causing Deidara to let go.

"You have absolutely no right to even apologize. As far as I know, this can be just a ruse to get me to come back to be your partner. Whatever is going through that thick head of yours, I want nothing to do with."

Anger sparked through Deidara, he was going to get out what he wanted to say whether she wanted to hear him out or not. "Okay fine! Don't forgive me but I do like you, a lot! It was way before you even told me. Remember when we fought off those leaf shinobi and escaped on my bird six months ago? That was the moment, everything hit me at once; why the hell do you think I was more vocal about your safety in fights? Why do you think I was more willing to let you have an input on my art, hm?!" He grabbed both her shoulders, his transformation had come undone. The look in his bright blue eyes was intense; he wasn't going to drop this.

Miko looked up at him, unsure of what to say before looking away, "Deidara, you're an absolute idiot if you think this would work. You had every moment before three months ago to say something and didn't. How do you know I haven't moved on? For all you know, I could have moved on and started having feelings for someone else!"

"I swear to god if its Uchiha-."

"In fact, it is! He asked me to help him rebuild his clan after the Akatsuki reaches its goal."

"Are you fucking serious?!"

"No, you goddamn moron! God, see this is why I don't believe you! It's too convenient for you to confess. We haven't seen or spoken to each other in the last three months and you just assumed that we'd go back to out old dynamic! Deidara I don't want my emotions played with so just leave me be. Pretend none of this happened, all of it. Me confessing and your sudden confession. We are here to do our job, thats it and that's all."

Deidara gritted his teeth before letting her go, walking to the far end of the room and letting himself drop down to his rear, "Fine, do whatever the hell you want, hm." his temper had flared. He wanted to blow something up, the vibrations from the explosion and bright colors were soothing to him but he doubted he would be able to see anything with the constant snowfall.

Miko gave an annoyed grunt before leaving the room for good, nearly slamming the door.


	3. Chapter 3

The atmosphere in the room had been tense the last few days. They couldn't get a second bed, though they could get an extra blanket and several pillows. The pillows were put between them while they slept, it was Miko's idea honestly. They went out to do their own thing; both gathering information and relaying; they tried their best to remain civil to one both knew they fucked up; but Miko wasn't willing to own up to it now. It definitely drove Deidara insane.

"I'm going out again, don't bother ordering food for me." He muttered as he pulled his shoes on, "I'll be back late if anything, hm." He redid his transformation; knowing it would be suspicious if he went out not looking the same as he came in.

There was a small hum of acknowledgement and a nod, she had heard him but couldn't bring herself to be more vocal than that. She had been going over some of the mission details; who they were meeting, what time and what they information _should_ be receiving.

Deidara sucked his teeth before leaving, maybe the cold would help clear his mind out. He gave a semi friendly hello to the receptionist as he walked out the front doors. It was strange, the snow never ended however it never piled up too high. Was it always promptly removed by days end or did it just melt fast enough to keep a consistent height? Who knew.

It was bright out at least, the sun finally breaking through the grey clouds; though it was still snowed no matter what. From the last two days, Deidara had managed to map out a good chunk of the village, his clay bird giving perfect camouflage by the clouds. If anyone was going to get an up to date map of the village; the Akatsuki would.

* * *

It was midday when Deidara returned, Miko was still sitting in the same spot, now with what Deidara would assume was spicy soba. He recalled her mentioning that it was a favorite food of hers and that many places didn't carry it. She had her main bowl with the hot broth then two side containers with extra noodles to her immediate left.

"I need to ask you something." Deidara sat across from her, keeping a meter between them, "A few days ago I asked you why you left your village, you never answered. Why did you leave, hm?"

Miko raised a brow at him, lowering the bowl of steaming soba from her face. Her chopsticks were stained red from the amount of spice that was added to the broth. "Why does it matter? I've denounced this village since I left." she didn't break eye contact with him as she lifted a large portion of soba to her lips.

"No one just up and leaves for no reason. People just don't decide to abandon a place they call home without a reason, hm."

"I don't want to talk about it. It's not important and not vital to the mission." She shrugged, nearly inhaling the noodles, "My reasons are my own and no one has to know."

"If it's any consolation, I was forced into this. I was pretty happy where I was in my life. I made art and whatnot but eventually I stole a scroll that gave me my extra mouths to infuse my clay with my chakra. Apparently it was a terrible thing though it made me a bigger force to be reckoned with, hm."

Miko obviously wasn't too keen on spilling her past, however talking like this was probably better than ignoring the other, "Fine." she finished off her bowl, setting it off to the side. "My entire life was a lie; my upbringing, my 'parents', the love I had for this frozen prison land, everything." She leaned back against the wall, her lips pursed for a moment before closing her eyes, "I was only born to seal away a beast; it's not like the any of the Jinchuriki, but just a monster that terrorized the nation since the second Great Shinobi war. My name is ironic; it's an old name for priestess; but I was no priestess, I was a demon in disguise. I was raised by two jounin masquerading as my parents, they treated me as if I was theirs; probably why I didn't kill them."

It was different seeing her face void of emotion as she spoke, Deidara knew she was pretty expressive when she spoke, even when upset. "I'm assuming you were lonely like most of the Jinchuriki then?" He was definitely getting more than he was anticipating.

"No, I had plenty of friends. Mina, Kyoya, Eiji, loads of them. I wasn't barred from not socializing. The Yukigakure knew that isolating a host from civilians was a bad idea, have you seen the mistakes the other nations made? One mistake and and you had another Gaara but with snow and ice." She ended it all as she added more soba to the now cooled spicy broth, returning to eating, "Why are you asking anyways? It's not like it matters. Both our leaders already know, but I guess its not open knowledge."

"I heard some kids playing and one of them used what was your old nickname. So in exchange for some information; I gave them art." Deidara shrugged, "Don't give me that look, non-explosive, I'm not going to blow up innocent kids for no reason."

"Hmph." Miko looked away from him as she finished her food, easily drinking the broth in the bowl, "We're meeting with our contact at midnight. We set out in two hours when it starts to get dark. It'll take four hours by bird to get there."

"Are we going to use my clay bird to get there?"

"For the majority of the trip yes, there's a mountain range and its dangerous to fly through it. Once we hit those mountains, we travel by foot which leaves us two miles out." She had a faint smile as she got up, "I also stole something for us to use while we're here." Miko went towards the closet, "Chakra armor. Wear it over the new clothes, it boosts jutsu strength and provides extra cushioning when doing taijutsu."

He looked between her and the light colored armor in her hands, "How did you not get caught?" It was very interesting to say. It was tough but flexible at the same time, it looked pretty straightforward to put on; chest and back pieces, upper arms, lower legs and gloves. Deidara was going to forego the gloves of course due to the need to have access to his palm mouths.

"I made ANBU before I defected, wasn't the best but infiltration was my best field." She pulled out a second set, "Those of us in the snow have special technology to help us fight in the snow. It wears you down and being exposed for too long will have irreversible effects." Miko tucked her armor under her arm, walking towards the bathroom, "I suggest you start getting ready."

Deidara sighed before nodding, "Are the extra clothes in the scroll too?" He got his answer as she tossed a scroll towards him, "Thanks I guess, hm." he muttered as he opened the scroll, releasing the seal. A set of off white and pale blue snow shinobi clothes were now neatly laid before him, they were more form fitting than he was expecting but he couldn't complain. Miko had really planned out this mission with them both in mind.

The clothes themselves were made from a very thick fabric, more than likely for compression and to keep warmth in. The armor wasn't too hard to figure out once Deidara saw where the pieces locked into place. If anything at the moment, he could easily pass as a Snow shinobi with all preparations that were made.

"God, its like a bad dream being back in these clothes." Miko had her hair pulled back into a bun, her clothes were similar to Deidara's, the only difference was it came with a half skirt that went over her left hip. "We'll have the upper hand if this ends up being a ruse." she fiddled with her collar, making a face at the feel of it.

A faint nod left Deidara, "I thought the clothes for this village was supposed to be bulkier. Why is it more form fitting now?"

"Special jounin clothes, heavy duty without being heavy. I snagged them also when I stole the armor. It'll help us blend when we are flying and in the mountains. I, for one, am glad that they don't feel so bulky." She sat back down in her original spot, "the person we are meeting used to be apart of the old council, pretty shitty person since he was bribed a lot and caused a lot of the further towns to fall into disarray. His name is Fūmo Shiyuko. He lead the coup that took out Princess Koyuki and reinstated the Daimyo rule."

"So someone on the inside wants to bring down the current Daimyo then, seems like this land is constantly at war with itself, hm"

"You have no idea, it's kill or be killed or freeze; the cold doesn't discriminate. I've seen some of the leaders let the smaller villages within the land freeze and die, either it starts now or it starts when our leader united the land under his rule." She frowned, "I plan to change that once our goal is achieved. What about you? After the Akatsuki reaches its goal, what's there for you?"

Deidara never thought about it, he honestly assumed as a shinobi he'd die you; it was more common that he'd like to think, "Travel the world I suppose besides making my art known. Probably beat Uchiha and get the recognition I deserve, hm."

There was a faint nod from Miko, pondering her future after the Akatsuki. What would she do afterwards.

* * *

Miko wasn't wrong when they would need the stolen clothes, the terrain was absolutely terrible to travel through for Deidara. He was grateful for the chakra armor since it was a great insulator. He hadn't detonated his clay bird, instead he had it on standby just incase. The walk to their destination took just over an hour to reach; Deidara couldn't tell where they were going but Miko did. She didn't tell him why she knew, but he didn't question it. However he did have questions when they came across a demolished village; though he had a feeling from the other's forlorn expression that she had history here.

"We have company Deidara, get another bird ready just in case if a fight breaks out."

"Already on it, I can tell that the snow is just ready to cause an avalanche."

They both kept their relaxed postures, though their guards were on high alert; times like this they both wished they were sensory types. Once the presence was getting closer, Miko pulled a mask over her lower face, her eyes narrowing at the figure.

"Ah, dear friends! I take it that you are of the Akatsuki yes? I hope you like the clothes, they are yours to keep." A man warmly welcomed, he looked vaguely familiar to Deidara but he couldn't pinpoint from where. He had dark grey hair, ash blue eyes and small blue markings under his eyes. "I am Fumo Shiyuko."

"We know who you are." Miko's voice killed any pleasantries, "Give us what you promised and you have our promise to get rid of the Daimyo as requested." it was obvious that she did not like this man in the slightest.

"Now, now, it's only courtesy to introduce yourself back." Fumo kept his positive tone, though under it laid an underlying bite.

"Maiko, my associate is Deidara." She wasn't going to give him the right of her real name, "Scroll now." she took several steps forward, holding her gloved hand out.

Fumo wasn't having any of the attitude she was giving, "How then, how about we go into the nearby village and have tea before discussing further, I'm sure we have lots to catch up on, dear _Maiko_." the way he said her fake name made her on edge.

Deidara and Miko exchanged looks before nodding, Deidara was quick to speak up, "We are on a _very_ strict schedule. We will be in contact again but for now, we need the scroll to take to our leader, hm."

The smile on Fumo's face immediately dropped to a scowl at Deidara's insistence now, without hesitation he put his hand in the air before closing his fist; this was an ambush.

"In the air now Deidara!"

* * *

There was a clear skill different between the snow shinobi and the Akatsuki duo; Deidara and Miko were obviously better than the now dead or dying bodies littering the floor. The duo weren't without their own scrapes and bruises however. Miko had lost one of her sleeves and half of her leg armor, blood smeared on her cheek and a split lip. Deidara was still high in the air; he was holding his side as he had a ice shuriken slice into his side, enemy blood smeared across his chest and in his hair, and an ice kunai slowly melting in his thigh.

Fumo was had seen better days, it was just him verses Miko now; she told Deidara to keep out of it.

"Don't you think you should have him help you out, it's obvious that you've gotten soft." Fumo sneered, he knew he had little to no chance surviving, but he wasn't going down alone. He had a broken wrist, bleeding heavily from his thighs and an array of stab and slice wounds across his body and what remained on his armor. Despite the broken wrist, he managed to still weave hand signs; he wasn't going down without taking one of them with him.

Immediately Miko recognized the hand signs and and began to move back onto the defensive

 _Ice Style! Lightning Ice Shard!_

It was too late, before she knew it, a spear like ice shard tore through her side, blindsiding her. There weren't many things she couldn't dodge while in the snow, however this one jutsu was a ice-lightning hybrid and even with her reflexes she couldn't dodge it. It had happened so fast as she collapsed to her knees, her hands pressed to her side.

With another flurry of hand signs, Fumo sneered maniacally, "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!"

 _Ice Style! Avalanche Devastation!_

The ground shook violently, soon there was a steadily growing rumble from the mountain not too far from them; soon a monsterous avalanche was heading straight towards the two on the ground. Miko forced herself to her feet and began running; Deidara was hot on her trail on his bird to grab her before the snow got to her. Fumo had been taken over by the snow; having no qualms with dying in such a way as the bodies on the ground were covered as well.

"Reach out to me!" Deidara called out, his bird dangerously low as he held his hand out to Miko to grab, "Give me your hand, hm!"

The snow was gaining on Miko fast, the hole in her side making it hard to keep up with the speed she needed. She desperately reached up to grab his hand; however right as she was within reach, the snow caught up and overtook her.

Deidara had to pull up away from the moving snow, obviously distraught that he couldn't grab onto her hand. She was right there and he couldn't grab onto her; he felt hallow as he waited for the snow to stop, he was going to find her even if it was going to kill him; he wasn't going to lose another partner.

.-.-.-.

 _"Hey, Deidara, think there's an afterlife?" Miko held her hands out to the fire in front of her. She'd removed her soaked cloak and had it propped up on a makeshift stand near the fire, hoping it would dry by morning._

 _It was pouring outside, they were held up deep inside of a cave; originally it wasn't too bad with their wide brimmed hats but then the wind picked up and lightning stroke the ground not even three meters ahead of them. Deidara had spotted a cave not too far from them and they booked it. By a stroke of luck, whoever was in the cave previously had left a pile of dry wood; more than likely leftovers._

 _He raised a brow at her before shrugging, "Not really the religious type honestly. If there is an afterlife, it won't be pleasant for any shinobi I can safely say, hm." Deidara's cloak was next to Miko's, not wanting to wear it since it was just as soaked. It was weird having someone trying to make small talk, though it was definitely appreciated._

 _It had been just over a month since Sasori had died and his leader insisted they were to be paired up, seeing that they could counter their weaknesses; he was a mid to long range while she was close to mid range. They didn't mix too well in the beginning; she was originally too quiet for his liking, but he found out she was wary of most new people. It took him saving her from a vortex of fire for her to fully trust him._

 _Deidara's answer made Miko go quiet, contemplating what she should say next, "I hope reincarnation is real honestly, maybe I'll come back born into a better village. You could be reborn and find out that people started truly appreciating your art." She laughed at the last part._

 _Amusement danced in Deidara's eyes, the visible one at least, "Are you saying that people don't appreciate it now? I think that might count as an insult." He did his best to hold back a grin, "What art do you think is best then, hm?"_

 _"Something that is permanent but at the same time can change over time. Life is like that; you know? We're only here for short periods of time but the decisions we make now can feel like they are permanent but it can change the course of the future." It was strangely insightful even for Miko, "My home village nothing changes, I hated it but here, on the mainland, everything changes and that's what I think its artistic."_

 _It was weird, Deidara could see himself somewhat agreeing with what she said, though he would never admit to it, "Wrong, fleeting art is the best. Here for a moment then gone the next, hm."_

 _"Hey! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, you can't just say my views are wrong." Another laugh left her lips, shaking her head as she let her hands fall, "There is no right or wrong art."_

 _Deidara could see their partnership working out very well, he was looking towards them sticking together for the long run._

* * *

Deidara felt his hands going numb as he continued to dig for Miko, it wouldn't take long before he would lose her to the snowy depths. "You can't die out here! Not like this!" He yelled, his face burned and he realized his fingertips were slowly turning blue the further he dug. Soon his freezing hands reached a body; he immediately pulled them out. "Thank god-." It was Miko, who was unconscious but at least breathing.

He noticed that she wasn't bleeding anymore but there was red ice where the wound was, so herself healing had kicked in at least. She felt unnaturally cold as he cradled her body to his and rushed back to his bird to head back to the main village; luckily if he rushed, he could get them back to the inn before the receptionist would be in by morning.

There was just silence and the wind for the longest time, he could see the dim lights of the town. The quiet was slowly killing him inside.

"Dei...?" Miko's voice croaked, disoriented from being hit by the snow and some blood loss, "Should of left me..."

Deidara sucked his teeth before rolling his eyes, "And be without a partner again? Fat chance, save your strength you moron and stop talking, hm." His arms tightened around her protectively.

She didn't say anything for a while after, instead she let her head rest in the crook of his neck, "Sorry about fighting with you, I was just angry... I really like you, a lot. I want to be your partner again, it was loads of fun." a tired smile graced Miko's face.

"Didn't I say shut up? You really don't like to listen, hm."

A faint laugh left her lips, "Hey, I just realized you have really pretty eyes Dei, and your hair is nice too.. A lot of things about you is... nice..." She drifted off, falling silent once more as sleep took her.

Deidara didn't know if the redness was from her words or the icy wind whipping against his cheeks, either way right now it wasn't important as they got closer to town. There were just a handful of people out, mostly drunkards so it was unlikely that anyone would notice two bloodied shinobi rushing up into a room; luckily for them, no one did.

He wasn't too worried about himself but the ice on Miko's side was starting to melt and leave a dripping mess. Deidara laid her down before going through her scrolls for medical supplies; knowing she was prepared for anything. It took a few minutes to find what he needed; releasing the seal to get disinfectant and bandages. Deidara knew he wasn't the best with patch jobs but he did his best as he cleaned cleaned then wrapped her midsection; tearing open her shirt to get to her stomach. Once he was done with her, he started working on himself; letting out faint grunts.

It was sunrise after he was finished; now sitting against the wall as he waited for Miko to wake up. They still had two days before needing to report back to Pein, though it wouldn't be good news to him. Granted it gave more incentive to not return to the Yukigakure any time soon due to the fake informant.

"Deidara...?" Miko groaned faintly, squinting slightly as she looked around the room. It was now midday, the sunlight from the window waking her.

He looked over at her, giving a silent sigh of relief, "You should really stop making things hard for me. I can't afford to explain to our leader that I lost _another_ partner." he tried to keep a joking tone but it faltered at the end, "You...You really scared me for a moment there, hm."

Miko slowly sat up, hissing faintly as she held her side, "we're... back at the inn... You shouldn't have saved me, you could have been miles and miles away from here-" She was downright confused on why he stuck to saving her, he could be at the mainland at this point.

"I couldn't; not with how I feel about you." Deidara hesitated before moving over to help her sit up, "I almost gave myself frostbite from it. Out of all the Akatsuki, I'd save you no matter what, hm."

"You ignored your own aesthetic, isn't art fleeting; just like life?" A weak smile formed on her face, leaning back against him, "You could have finally gotten rid of me. What gives?" Miko leaned her head back against his shoulder.

Deidara made a face before looking away, "True art is fleeting, however, there are a few things that I would prefer not to be gone in an instant." He didn't like admitting that there were something's he didn't want his views to reflect on.

From the corner of her eye, Miko swore she saw his cheeks flush, she couldn't help but laugh faintly. Her eyes closed as she relaxed against him. "Hey... I'm sorry for going off on you, it wasn't right. I was angry and scared, the last three months not working with you put me in a bad headspace, I was having fun. I felt ali-"

A pair a firm lips pressed to her own cut her off, catching Miko off guard before she returned it at full force. Within seconds, she'd forced her body to turn and face him, moving a hand up to rest against his cheek. Deidara's arm went from supporting her to holding her as close as physically possible. It wasn't long before they pulled away; their foreheads pressed together as they looked the other in the eye.

"You.. have really pretty eyes-." Miko said softly, unsure of what to say.

Deidara bit back a laugh, "You've told me. How about we pretend the last three months didn't happen and start all over again? We can both agree that we were sort of jerks, hm."

"I'd like that a lot..." Miko gave him a faint grin. She pulled herself from him, wincing as she brought herself to a sitting position, sitting up as straight as she could as she looked him in the eye, "I really like you Deidara, more than a friend of partner should."

"Hmm, I don't know if I feel the same," He hummed, holding his chin in pseudo-deep though.

" **_Hey!_ **"

He laughed as he pressed their foreheads together, "I like you too, just as much or more even, hm."

"Outta kick your butt for that-" she reached up to twirl a lock of his hair between her fingers, "You absolute terror."

"I'd like to see you try, hm." He grinned, tugging her back in for another kiss.


End file.
